An interesting recent addition to Bangkok (December 9, 2005) is Siam Ocean World which is located in the basement level of Siam Paragon. Siam Ocean World is the largest aquarium in SE Asia and includes penguins, sharks and a variety of offbeat sea creatures. It is great for kids and even adults will find something interesting here. Plan on spending 1-2 hours to see the entire exhibit. Admission is 750 baht for adults and 600 baht for children which seems a bit expensive to me, but what the heck you’re on vacation right? Oh, if you’re Thai then you pay 280 baht for children and 450 baht for adults which is a bit more reasonable. Isn’t dual pricing wonderful?

Siam Paragon is huge with a total area of over 300,000 sq. meters about 1/3 of which is devoted to department stores. It is an upscale mall catering to wealthy Thai’s and foreigners and has many luxury brands including Gucci, Hermes and Burberry. You’ll also find many small Thai traditional arts stores carrying everything from tiny items to very expensive and highly decorative silk, ivory, and antiques, ostentatiously geared towards the extremely wealthy.

Especially interesting, especially to car afficianados are the autos on display at Siam Paragon. Kids may not be that impressed, but many adults will enjoy it much more than Siam Ocean World. Ferrari’s, Lamborghini’s and Maserati’s are on display which is even more impressive considering the high auto import tax in Thailand makes these cars 50-100% more expensive than they would be in the west.

Siam Paragon and Siam Ocean World are located in the large mall area on Rama 1 Road in the Pathum Wan district of Bangkok. It is quite easy to get to either by Skytrain (Siam Station) or by taxi. Next door to Siam Paragon you’ll find Siam Center and Siam Discovery. MBK Shopping Center is also within walking distance and other nearby centers include Gaysorn Mall which is the most upscale of the Bangkok malls and Central World Plaza. Considering all of the nearby options you could easily spend the day in this area and 1 hour or so to investigate the aquatic displays at Siam Ocean World is worth it.

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